El peor año de mi vida. Agotamiento emocional y burnout por la COVID-19 en profesionales de residencias. Estudio RESICOVID

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major changes in the day-to-day operations of residential care facilities. Little is known about the impact it has had on professionals working in nursing homes in Spain. This research arose from the need to explore the situation experienced during the pandemic and to delve into the experiences as narrated by professionals working in nursing homes. The aim of the RESICOVID study was to analyze the effects on professionals of the measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in nursing homes. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 31 professionals (mean age: 32.9 years; 83.8% women, in various areas of care) were interviewed. Seventy-one percent of the sample presented a diagnosis of COVID-19. The analysis was performed with the Atlas-ti v8 program. RESULTS: From the analysis of the interviews, 128 quotations were extracted, coded in the following dimensions: 1. experience of confinement; 2. perception of changes; 3. health problems; 4. cognitive and functional changes; 5. loneliness. CONCLUSIONS: Burnout, overload, lack of resources and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have generated feelings of fear, exhaustion, anxiety, frustration and sadness in professionals who continue to this day without sufficient resources to face the situation. The design of contingency plans for future health crises should take into account this impact on care professionals.